Heart Rate Seems high

[datalink7]

Greetings,

Just wanted to see if anyone thought this might be of concern or if I'm worrying too much.

First, stats.

Age: 29
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 164
Activity: Workout 5-6 days a week, and am additionally in the military so I'm not sedentary.
Smoke: Never
Drink: Rarely (once every couple of months... maybe I need to drink wine more often )

I just took my heart resting heart rate, both with my cheapo heat rate monitor and manually. It is about 85-90, though I finished working out about an hour ago and ate afterwards. Usually it is at least 75.

After I get done with my run, I immediatly grab the monitor on the tredmil and have been getting 180. However, part of this I'm sure is that I always finish the last .15 miles with a max effort sprint so it is spiking. However, I've grabbed the sensors during my run and it is usually around 170, which I think is also a little high.

I've never been diagnosed with high blood pressure or heart problems during my periodic check ups, though sometimes they do multiple tests on the blood pressure. Males in my family have a history of serious heart conditions (just about every male has a heart attack in their 50's or even 40's, though most of them smoke too).

Thoughts? Maybe when I redeploy (in Afghanistan currently) in a few months I'll bring it up during the post deployment health assessment.

 

[neocpp]

I'm sure SC will weigh in on this, but at least in my experience those heartrate monitors that are attached to the machines have been very inaccurate. Just depending on how I grab it I've seen +/- 20bpm. Not sure which unit you are talking about though -- I think the ones that go around your chest are generally supposed to be decent.

I have a very high HR for my fitness level, but so far no doctor I've gone to has said anything about it (they do some tests and decide everything is fine). My resting is anywhere from 60-75, but running 7:30 min/mile pushes my HR up to ~200bpm. By the time I get down to 5:30 min/mile I start pushing 220bpm and (I think) max out all the HR monitors I've tried. I've measured it down to 5:00 min/mile and 6% incline on treadmill but I've never seen a reading above 220, but I'm pretty sure my actual HR was higher (I felt noticeably worse).

I think the only difference may be that no one in my family has a history of heart disease or anything, so maybe they decide that my risk factor is lower. So sorry I don't really have any answers for you, just letting you know that there are other people with high HR too.

 

[darkxshade]

Check it after you wake up in the morning, my stats are pretty close to yours and my RHR ranges from 50-65bpm

edit: checked mine just now, it's slightly <60bpm, working a desk job.

 

[Kadarin]

I have similar stats to yours, and when I mentioned to my cardiologist, she wasn't concerned. I did have HBP and high cholesterol, which are both now well under control from pills + diet + exercise.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

I'm sure SC will weigh in on this, but at least in my experience those heartrate monitors that are attached to the machines have been very inaccurate. Just depending on how I grab it I've seen +/- 20bpm. Not sure which unit you are talking about though -- I think the ones that go around your chest are generally supposed to be decent.

I have a very high HR for my fitness level, but so far no doctor I've gone to has said anything about it (they do some tests and decide everything is fine). My resting is anywhere from 60-75, but running 7:30 min/mile pushes my HR up to ~200bpm. By the time I get down to 5:30 min/mile I start pushing 220bpm and (I think) max out all the HR monitors I've tried. I've measured it down to 5:00 min/mile and 6% incline on treadmill but I've never seen a reading above 220, but I'm pretty sure my actual HR was higher (I felt noticeably worse).

I think the only difference may be that no one in my family has a history of heart disease or anything, so maybe they decide that my risk factor is lower. So sorry I don't really have any answers for you, just letting you know that there are other people with high HR too.

In addition to this reason, if the HR monitor is right then it could be a sign of overtraining. Frequently, increased HR is the first actual sign of overtraining. How much have you been training? How frequently? How much mileage? Do you feel worn down?

 

[neocpp]

In addition to this reason, if the HR monitor is right then it could be a sign of overtraining. Frequently, increased HR is the first actual sign of overtraining. How much have you been training? How frequently? How much mileage? Do you feel worn down?

Hmm, that is interesting. I have experienced overtraining before after several hard weeks at 90+mpw (mix of doubles and singles, 6 days a week), but that was pretty memorable -- I haven't felt anything like that before or since. I've taken the readings at various stages of fitness (starting out at around 30mpw up to 80mpw) over a few years, but aside from measurement noise they have been fairly consistent. The main difference is I can't really sustain the faster paces when I'm not in good shape, so I miss the last few data points. I don't think I would be overtrained at 30mpw (singles, 5 days per week), though. Right now I run between 60-70mpw and I feel fine, but I haven't done any HR measurements in a while.

 

[interchange]

Generally athletes have lower resting heart rates. It might be worth having your thyroid checked out. I probably wouldn't worry about more esoteric things such as pheochromocytoma unless there was significant family history. Since your heart rate isn't actually above normal range, I doubt there is a rhythm abnormality. However, I have seen one gentleman in his 30s, very athletic, come in with a significant arrhythmia and not tachycardia. If we had trusted the nurse's vitals and not checked a pulse ourselves it would have been missed.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Generally athletes have lower resting heart rates. It might be worth having your thyroid checked out. I probably wouldn't worry about more esoteric things such as pheochromocytoma unless there was significant family history. Since your heart rate isn't actually above normal range, I doubt there is a rhythm abnormality. However, I have seen one gentleman in his 30s, very athletic, come in with a significant arrhythmia and not tachycardia. If we had trusted the nurse's vitals and not checked a pulse ourselves it would have been missed.

Normal is re-defined in athletes though. He does a fair amount of running mileage, as stated in his previous posts. 85-90 for a trained soldier, although it may be normal for the general population, is high.

To the OP, I'm assuming mpw means miles per week and 60-70 is definitely enough to induce overtraining. You may not have the central signs yet, but you may be expressing early cardiovascular signs of such an event. Is there any way you could take it easy for a week? That would be the easiest, simplest trial treatment to rule that in or out.